The new process produces battery material for lithium at 36 % cheaper – “We believe this is revolutionary”

US researchers have developed a new method to produce lithium more efficiently. The process is based on electrical chemistry.

Compared to traditional methods, the process can save 35.6 % in costs. In addition, up to 75.3 % less carbon dioxide emissions are generated.

A study by the Pennsylvanian State University has been published in a prestigious In Nature Communications.

Critical element

Lithium is an important raw material used in batteries that do not occur in nature as a pure metal.

Most of the litium used is obtained from the layers of salt lakes and the salt barns. The largest lithium reserves are located in the desert of Salar de Atacama in Chile.

For the separation of lithium, the salt water is pumped and concentrated by evaporating water. According to US researchers, the process is a burden on the environment, as the soil is virtually non -viable.

On the other hand, lithium can be produced by mining lithium -rich minerals such as spodumene. According to researchers, lithium is separated from spodumen by strong acids or bases up to more than 1000 degrees Celsius.

The process consumes significantly energy. In addition, the acids used in it are expensive and increase safety risks.

Based on electrochemics

The method developed by the researcher group is based on electrochemical extraction, where the mineral is brought to a liquid form. The method of researchers does not require high temperatures or pressure.

In the first experiments, the electrons of the mineral were tuned in, which released some lithium ions. However, they were not sufficiently released for the process of scaling the process.

Researchers decided to add hydrogen peroxide to the process to make the extraction more efficient. In the end, studies were recovered by up to 92.2 % of litium, comparable to the result of traditional methods.

The next step in the researchers is to develop an electrochemical method to select lithium to selectively into fixed forms, such as lithium chloride or lithium hydroxide. These can be utilized directly in industry.

“We really believe this is a revolutionary,” the assistant professor led by the research Feifei Shi says in a university bulletin.